Scrooge is very happy when his sister Fan comes to take him from boarding school, a scene the Ghost of Christmas Past has him revisit. Fan, who is younger than Scrooge is, comes in overjoyed and says:
“I have come to bring you home, dear brother!” said the child, clapping her tiny hands, and bending down to laugh. “To bring you home, home, home!”
When we learn some details of the boarding school, we come to understand that it was a miserable place, where the students were kept frightened, ill fed, and cold. For example, the schoolmaster puts Scrooge in "a dreadful state of mind"—in other words, frightens him, when he shakes his hand, suggesting that he has been cruel to him in the past. This sense of cruelty is reinforced by the cold "best-parlor," where items like the globes are "waxy" with cold. The schoolmaster then offers Scrooge and Fan thin, watered down wine and very heavy cake, both of which sound dreadful. The servant is "meager" or thin, indicating he is underfed. It sounds as if Scrooge must be very glad to get away from such a place.
Life was pretty miserable for young Ebenezer at boarding school. While all the other boys would go home to spend Christmas with their families, he was left all alone at school. Scrooge's father wouldn't let him come home for the holidays, so he'd have no choice but to remain at school, feeling so terribly lonely, isolated, and sad.
However, thanks to the Ghost of Christmas Past, we can see that one year Scrooge's father had a change of heart and allowed Ebenezer to come home for the holidays. Scrooge's beloved sister Fan comes to the school to collect him and take him back home with her. Ebenezer's delighted to see his sister and pleasantly surprised to find out that he'll be spending Christmas with his family.
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